'Shaking' is the long awaited return of the enigmatic California—based Aussie songstress, who first broke through four years ago with a series of transfixing, jangling dream-pop singles and EPs. With her trademark track, the indie classic "Never Going Home’, having now amassed tens of millions of plays online, Hazel has cemented her place as one of the brightest new stars of indie, and anticipation for her debut album has reached an all time high.
The first single off this debut - details forthcoming - could not be a bigger statement of intent. A Sixties-influenced odyssey of grooves and cloud-bursting hooks that will have indie jukeboxes taking nuclear turns from the off.
“Shaking presents the promise of spiritual awakening as a kind of seduction in order to lull the individual into false truths about themselves and the world around them” Hazel notes, of the track’s narrative. “It’s meant to be a playful, tongue-in-cheek song so mostly I hope people get some fun out of it"
Written by Hazel and new recurrent collaborator Blake Stranathan (Lana Del Rey) and produced in Hazel’s adopted home of Los Angeles by super-producer Justin Raisen of-the-moment (Sky Ferreira, Charli XCX, Angel Olsen), 'Shaking' lays the groundwork for Hazel's forthcoming album, which casts a similarly wry, appraising eye over modern life.
"There is a lot more I am trying to explore under the surface that I hope people notice," she notes, "questions like: what are the ideas we are seduced by, and are they leading us to a good or bad place? What do we truly believe deep down?”
"I feel like I’m on this continual journey of figuring out what I truly believe and separating it from the false and toxic ideas I was taught about myself and the world throughout my life. I hope I can inspire others to also search for their inner truths and find their own inner strength in the process."
With ‘Shaking’s fusion of dreamy lyricism and propulsive, hazy grooves, the scene has been set for one hell of an album. And if this first missive is anything to go by, Hazel’s debut promises to be one of the highlights of 2020.
